PETITION FOR APOLOGY FOR INACCURATE CARICATURE OF BRUCE LEE IN FILM ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

Dear Bruce Lee Fans, Chinese in the United States, and Chinese Abroad;

My name is Long Z. Liu and I am an internationally recognized trial lawyer for successfully representing clients in renowned cases against Alibaba, Jack Ma, Gemcoin, Chanel, Zhou Libo, Air China, Eastern Airlines, Luca International Group, LLC., Benshan Zhao, and JP Morgan Chase. I have also been a specially invited legal consultant on newsworthy legal issues for large Chinese Media conglomerates Tencent, Inc., Toutiao, and Wu Kong. Concerning my representation of clients in renowned cases, I have been interviewed by New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Fox 11 News, CNN News, Voices of America, CCTV, Bloomberg Business News, and Beijing Times. Finally, aside from my very vigorous law practice, I have my own television show Long Z. Liu Weekly on Chineseinla.com which airs every Friday.

Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s Daughter, said regarding Bruce Lee’s caricature in the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: “[Bruce Lee] comes across as an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air, and not someone who had to fight triple as hard as many of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others.”

The purpose of this letter is to express my deep disappreciation, disappointment, and dismay at Bruce Lee’s caricature in the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood directed by Quentin Tarantino. I recently watched this film and was surprised at the portrayal of Bruce Lee as a conceited martial artist who is made to look like a fool by Cliff Booth (Rick Dalton’s) stunt double during a fight. In this scene, Bruce Lee is depicted as full of puffery and had to perform way harder than the stuntman who did not even try to get to the level he is at. This depiction portrays Bruce Lee as a wannabe without any talent but filled with hot-air and unjustified ego. This clearly was not the case in 1960’s Hollywood where as a Chinese-American he had to work harder and perform much better than his white counterparts, i.e., Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton. Moreover, in my experience, this appearance is unlike Bruce Lee throughout his career. For example in Enter the Dragon, Return of the Dragon, and Way of the Dragon Bruce Lee did not directly confront and challenge his opponents. In fact, he was quite the contrary. He would not directly challenge his opponents and was subtle in his appearance and talent.  

I believe the portrayal of Bruce Lee in this film is reminiscent of Ivan Drago from the film Rocky IV. In that film, Drago is portrayed as an amateur boxing champion from the Soviet Union which symbolizes the USSR. Drago’s defeat by Rocky Balboa represents the United State’s defeat of the USSR and the crumbling of the Soviet regime. The socio-politico climate between the United States and China seems to have called for a movie that portrays the Chinese as a work-hard, full of puffery, and hot air that is unable to succeed and surpass the United States even when trying much harder than the United States.

Unfortunately, however, this political turmoil is inaccurately portrayed in this film by depicting Bruce Lee, a legend, as an arrogant hot head that is full of fluff. This portrayal of Bruce Lee has left me and millions of other Chinese in the United States and abroad in dismay. I am completely sympathetic and supportive of Ms. Shannon Lee’s opinion on this matter.

I AM DEMANDING AN APOLOGY FROM QUENTIN TARANTINO FOR HIS INACCURATE DEPICTION OF CHINESE LEGEND BRUCE LEE!!!

Very Truly Yours,

Long Z. Liu, Esq.